born Aug. 10, 1821, Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.
died Feb. 18, 1905, Ogontz, Pa.
U.S. financier and fund-raiser for the federal government during the American Civil War.
He entered a Philadelphia banking house at age 18 and opened his own in 1861. That same year, he floated a $3 million war loan for the state of Pennsylvania. During the next four years he organized the sale of hundreds of millions in bond s for the federal government. Cooke's effort to finance construction of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1870 led to his firm's failure, but he rebuilt his fortune within a decade.